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Meeting Abdulkadir Kamtirey and the Office of Diaspora Affairs

Office of Diaspora Affairs in Somalia with filmmakers

We were at Dabagoye restaurant today in Rexdale where we had the privilege of meeting the visiting delegation from the Office for Diaspora Affairs in Somalia. We had a great discussion with Abdulkadir Kamtirey who is now the Director at the Office for Diaspora affairs.

Abdulkadir Kamtirey

Little did we know that Kamtirey was also the first person to open a Somali restaurant in Toronto in the late 80’s. He told us of his experience coming to Canada, and how he tried to help the newcomers who were forced to flee Somalia and arrived in Toronto in the 1990’s. When Kamtirey heard about our film Sweepstakes he though it was a great idea.

In his words it will: “inspire the younger generation of Somalis to understand what their parents went through when they came to Canada. And appreciate the difficulties they faced in establishing the Somali community that exists here today.” He also saw it as a positive step to share this story that is common to so many Somali-Canadians with a broader Canadian Audience.